2 weeks Ago By Scotsman comment
John Swinney’s warning that Scotland faces “years of austerity” under Labour may have been just a bit of red meat for SNP supporters ahead of this weekend’s party conference. It might have been a response to claims by Chancellor Rachel Reeves that the Scottish Government is just “as guilty as the Conservative government” for spending too much money. Or perhaps it was both.
But whatever the First Minister’s motivations, the blame game needs to stop. Regardless of whose fault it is, it is clear that Scotland and the UK as a whole are in a mess. Factors outside the control of both Holyrood and Westminster, chiefly the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have played a part.
Picking over past mistakes It is hard to make the case that the responses to the economic effects of these crises, by both the SNP and Conservative governments, were perfect. Mistakes were undoubtedly made and, while in office, neither party seemed to have a coherent plan to substantially improve matters. However, picking over past mistakes is not going to help.
The simple, plain and obvious truth is that the SNP and Labour governments must – must – work together to improve Scotland’s economic fortunes. Failure to do so, will do nothing to help the 24 per cent of children and 15 per cent of pensioners who are living in poverty. Petty insults On the Sunday after the general election, Keir Starmer travelled to Edinburgh to meet Swinney, commenting afterwards that “we are of a joint view that we can work constructively together".
The First Minister spoke of a “very poor” relationship with the UK Government under the Conservatives but said he had promised to work collaboratively with Starmer. Those good intentions from both leaders risk being undermined if the relationship descends into claim and counterclaim, petty insults and the sort of point-scoring that some politicians seem to find hard to resist. Voters are much less interested in who is to blame for our problems than they are in finding a solution to them.
Obviously, that is a difficult task, but the starting point is a strong working relationship between those in charge..
